Over the past few months I have received dozens, if not hundreds, of articles touting the latest and greatest marketing and digital trends that we should employ in 2015. While it is important to be aware of new tools and technologies, we should implement them strategically, not just because everyone else is jumping on the band wagon.

Just Another Buzz Word

Our role as marketers is constantly evolving and shifting as new technology is introduced. Digital marketing has morphed from the new face of marketing to a buzz word with very little meaning. We tend to focus on the multitude of digital tools available to us (social media, email, PPC ads, analytics, etc.). If we use these tools, we consider ourselves active in the digital marketing realm.

What we are losing sight of is that we are marketing in a digital age, not to digital media. Differentiating ourselves amongst the noise is harder than ever. To truly stand out from the competition, we must use marketing channels - digital and traditional - creatively. This means coming up with unique ways of using these new tools to reach our target audiences in ways that our competition has not thought of yet.

What Is Important?

While I am not encouraging you to latch onto any one marketing fad just because it is new and exciting - or the competition is doing it - there are some realities you should be aware of:

Mobile traffic is constantly growing. Security on mobile devices is a hot topic, meaning that companies are planning for increased mobile purchasing via e-commerce and payments with apps like Apple Pay.

Knowing your audience has always been important, but micro-targeting and automation are becoming the new standard. Customers expect your communications to be personalized and polished.

Given customer expectations and the availability of information online, professional writing is more important than ever. Brand loyalty is built when customers have positive interactions with your company. Make a strong first impression and see it through with consistent messaging.

Since customers look to their peers for product recommendations more and more, internal communications are a priority for many companies. Your employees can be groomed through education programs to become brand ambassadors for your organization.

Wearable devices like the Apple Watch, Google Glass and others are becoming more widely used. If your product or service has a viable application on one of these devices, you should be planning ahead now.

Try Something New

Whether it’s coming up with a new way to convert grad students to customers through Instagram or developing a highly-targeted inbound campaign that yields great results, try something different this year. When you do, implement one new channel at a time, making sure that you can track traffic, leads and sales to determine successes and areas for improvement.

When you know which marketing channels are producing the best results for your company, you can make decisions on investments and new ideas with confidence.

At OffWhite, we are marketing technologists. We understand that developing a unique way to share your company’s brand promise across multiple channels for a unified message is more important than the tools you use to share that message.

Instead of following the trends in 2015, we challenge you to be a trend setter this year. If you are looking for a way to break free from all of the marketing noise, contact Bill White or Abby Spung at 800.606.1610.